Vocal range
Roy Orbison
Tenor · Rock · Pop · Country · USA · prominent since 1956
Cited range
E2 — E5
Octaves
3.0
Semitones
36
Voice type
Tenor
What is Roy Orbison’s vocal range?
Roy Orbison's vocal range is commonly cited as E2 to E5 — about 3.0 octaves, or 36 semitones, and is usually classified as tenor.
Operatic tenor that swells from a soft low murmur to full-voice high notes with no audible break. That cited span is wider than 65% of the 357 voices in this library.
- Signature song
- Oh, Pretty Woman
- High E5 heard in
- Running Scared
Reading the numbers
- E2 is a deep floor for a tenor — lower than all but 6 of the 127 tenors here.
- 1 other voice here carries the identical cited range — at the resolution these figures are quoted in, those voices are indistinguishable on the chart.
- No separate full-voice ceiling is cited, so the figures describe a range worked largely in full voice across its 36 semitones.
- Ranked by bottom note, it is the 15th lowest of the 357 voices here; by top note, the 214th highest.
Commonly cited figures, not lab measurements — extreme notes are one-off recorded moments, not the singer’s everyday range.
You vs Roy Orbison
Take the free 2-minute range test — your mic finds your lowest and highest notes, then this page shows exactly how your voice lines up with Roy Orbison’s.
Same notes, other voices
Also bottoming out on E2
28 other voices here are cited to the same floor.
Also topping out on E5
29 other voices here reach the same ceiling.